Intellectual Property Law in the Digital Society

Aim

After completion of the course, the student shall at an advanced level be able to:

account for the rules of international and EU intellectual property law, e.g. copyright, patent law, design law, trademark law, related legislation on unfair competition law, trade secret law, and private international law in these areas of law,

identify and solve practical legal problems within the specified areas of law,

describe the main problems in the specified areas of law, which arise due to digital technologies and digital environments (e.g. Internet, social networks, computer games, and services that provide access to music, film and photography);

account for the legal policy discussions that occur in the areas and be able to take a reasoned position on such issues,

in an independent academic work, discuss issues arising in the field of intellectual property in the digital society, with the help of methods that are appropriate in the field,

clearly and orally present and discuss conclusions and the knowledge and arguments on which they are based;

critically review and evaluate the academic work of others and orally report on the application of academic assessment criteria for such criticism and the results of such an evaluation.

Content

The course deals with EU law and international law on the theme of intellectual property in the digital society. The course also contains comparative elements to provide perspectives on other countries' intellectual property laws and their application. The course begins with a theoretical overview of the principles and rules of intellectual property law, with the aim of updating and deepening students' knowledge of intellectual property law and its practical application. The main part of the course is then devoted to in-depth studies with a focus on specially selected intellectual property problems associated with digital environments and technologies.